It had been a little over a month since Stephanie and Sam had started seeing one another, and it was going great. They hadn't even had a fight. Maybe a few minor spats, mainly over where to eat or what movie to go see, but mostly it was bliss.
That is, till a rainy Wednesday evening in late June. Sam and Dean had picked Stephanie up from work in the Impala and the three of them had gone to see the movie '1408' at the movie theater.
"Was it just me, or was that not one of John Cusack's best movies? I mean, it was obviously no 'Say Anything...'." Dean asked as they pulled into the driveway. They noticed at strange car sitting there, a new, black Mustang.
"Who's that?" Sam wondered out loud. "It has New York plates."
"New York plates?" Stephanie suddenly sounded scared. "Oh God." She ran up to the car and peeked in. "Oh God, it's him. He found me."
"Who?" Dean asked.
"it's David, isn't it?" Sam asked her gently.
She nodded. "I can't go in there." Her voice was shaking and Sam realized she was truly scared.
"It'll be fine." He tried to reassure her. "We won't let him hurt you, will we Dean?"
"Of course not." Dean chimed in. "I'll kicked that Emo freak's butt if he touches you."
She cracked a small smile. "All right." She took a deep breath. "Let's go." She grabbed Sam's hand and they followed Dean up the front steps into the house.
"Um, Stephie." Her dad said as they walked in. "There's someone here to see you, baby."
She closed her eyes. "I know."
"He's in the kitchen." Bobby said. "Do you want me to-?"
"No, I'll go in and talk to him." She said. "You guys wait here."
She went into the kitchen. Sam followed as far as the door frame. He didn't want to leave her alone with him, but he didn't want to crowd her either. Oh, God, what if this guy talked her into getting back with him?
David was sitting at the table when she came in. He stood as soon as he saw Stephanie. He was taller than Sam had expected, but still not as tall as Sam himself was. His hair was the same coal black as it was in the pictures Stephanie had of him, the same freckles and dark brown eyes.
"Steph," He said. He had a deep voice, deeper than Sam would have thought it to be. "Where were you?"
"I was at the movies with Dean and Sam." She answered. "David, what are you doing here?"
"I came to get you." he answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're coming back to New York with me."
She glanced at Sam, then back at David. "No, I'm not. I'm staying here in Mascoutah with my Dad...and with Sam."
David threw him a quick glance. "So. That's your rebound boy?"
"No." Stephanie said. "He's not a rebound, he's my boyfriend. David, how did you find me?"
"It was easy." Sam backed away from the door frame, and turned to Bobby, John, and Dean.
"We have to get him out of here." he said. "You know she's terrified of him?"
"What?" Bobby said. "I knew he messed her around, but was he...you know, abusive?"
"I don't know." Sam replied. "She won't say. But she seemed awfully afraid outside, didn't she Dean?"
"Yeah," Dean agreed. "She was shaking like crazy when she realized it was him."
As Bobby and the three Winchester's were talking in the living room, Stephanie was trying to get David to understand that she didn't love him anymore and wouldn't be going back to New York with him, but it was like he refused to believe it.
"You can't possibly want to stay in this podunk town!" He kept saying.
"I have a life here, David!" She finally shouted at him. She heard it become silent in the other room.
"Fine!" He shouted back. "You want that grease monkey over me?"
She knew he was referring to Sam. "Just who do think you are?" She demanded. "Sam is twice the man you'll ever be-."
In the other room, Sam had been listening to the argument quietly, along with Bobby, his dad, and his brother. He had smiled when David called him a grease monkey and when Stephanie had said he was twice the man David was. That was when he heard the noise. It sounded like a duck hitting the water. Or a hand hitting a face.
He rushed into the kitchen and sure enough, Stephanie was clutching her cheek, which was bright red. Sam was pretty certain he had never been this angry in his life. The next thing he knew, he was punching David in his pretty face. He felt blood spurt under his fist and knew he had busted his nose.
"Sam!" Dean was saying, trying to pull him off. "Sam, stop!"
"He hit her!" Sam shouted. "He hit her in the face, Dean!" He punched David again.
"Sam!" John had joined Dean and together they pulled him off David, who looked pitiful. Blood was pouring from his nose, and he would no doubt have at least one black eye.
"I think you better get out of here." Bobby told him. "And don't you ever come near my daughter again, you hear? Or I'll make what Sam did look like a schoolyard spat."
Ten minutes after David had left, Sam was taping up his knuckles. "Steph okay?" He asked Bobby.
"She's fine." He answered. "Nothing a little asprin can't take care of. She's laying down in her, er, your room." He paused. "Look, I want to thank you for sticking up for her like that."
Sam looked up at him. "Bobby, I know I'm not the type of guy you wanted for Stephanie, because I'm a hunter, but I love her and I would do anything for her."
Bobby nodded. "I know, Sam. I know you would."
A little bit later, Sam went upstairs. He knocked on the door to the room they shared and opened it slowly.
"Steph?" He asked.
She was laying on their bed, curled in a ball. Sam came over and lay down beside her. "Hey," He said, stroking her hair. "You okay?"
She turned and buried her head into his chest. He could feel her body heaving with sobs. "Shh." He whispered. "It's all right, baby. It's over now."
"I thought it was already over." She said hoarsely. "I thought if I came back here, he wouldn't find me." She looked up at him and Sam saw a faint red mark shaped like a hand print on her cheek. He felt angry all over again. "Sam, am I gonna have to spend the rest of my life hiding from him?"
"No." He said. "I will always protect you." He kissed her.
"I love you, my Sammy." She whispered, resting her head against his chest.
"I love you too, baby." He replied, pulling her into him. They stayed like that for a long time, till she went to sleep, then he got up gently, careful not to wake her and crept downstairs. The others were sitting at the kitchen table, eating ham sandwiches and chips.
"How is she?" Bobby asked when he saw Sam.
"She's sleeping." Sam quickly made himself a sandwich. "She's still shook up though."
Bobby shook his head. "That stupid prick. If I known any of this was going on, I would have went out to New York and brought her back here myself." He studied his hands. "I should have never sent her out East in the first place. She ended up with a hunter anyway."
"Hey," John told him, sitting his sandwich down. "Don't be feeling all down on yourself about this. There's no way you could have known he was mistreating her."
"Yeah." Dean chimed in. "And if that S.O.B comes back around here...well take care of him."
"What, are you gonna rub him out?" Sam kidded. "We're like, some hunter mafia now?"
Dean's eyes got big. "That is a fantastic idea! Dad, you could be the Don and Bobby could be the hired muscle. Sam, you and I could be the hit men."
"I don't think so." Sam said. "Seriously, though, if he comes back around here, what are we gonna do?"
Bobby shrugged. "Well, hopefully, you scared him off, but if you didn't...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Author's Notes: Okay, so I just wanted to say again, that even though David shares my boyfriend's name, my BF is NOTHING like this guy. Okay, they look alike, except my David doesn't consider himself Emo. I don't think. He does play the guitar though. You should hear him play that Jensen Ackles song, Crazy Love. If you've never heard that song, go to youtube and look it up. Dean can SING!
